Underneath the visible components another change has

taken place. Houses are no longer only of stick construction, but also

steel, polystyrene, concrete and other space-age products.

In today's home, the kitchen is where the action is.

Today's kitchen is really a double or triple room, with living and dining

built into the space as cabinets and counters. It's also a

"Power Kitchen," outfitted with gleaming stainless steel

commercial-type appliances imposing ranges wih six burners,

super-quiet, anti-bacterial dishwashers, macho venting hoods, and

four first-ever additions this year from Viking a revolutionary

self-cleaning gas oven, the pot-filler faucet, a built-in wok and a

wine cooler.

Color is in. Formerly all-white, the kitchen is taking on the

characteristics of the great room. It has color, pattern, wood

cabinetry, art, furniture, rugs, soft lighting, and sensuous texture. Granite

is becoming the surface of choice for counters, along with

limestone, slate and other stone as well as wood and laminates for the

floor. Today's kitchen is an open invitation to a culinary adventure in

an alluring social setting.

Today's bathroom is turning into a home spa. Square

footage has increased each year and amenities abound from heated

floors to 10-jet hydro-massage showers, from hand-painted and

blown-glass basins to interior rock waterfalls, from private cedar

saunas to whirlpools and tubs of every shape, size and color.

The merging of the outside environment and the

interior homespace continues, thanks to better insulated windows and

glass doors. Thus the increasing significance of the view the

home garden. Gardening is said to be the biggest hobby in the

world. Flowers, trees, plants, vines, buterflies, birds, stone walls,

and paths, ponds and water fountains, herbs, fragrance, these are all

parts of the natural world to incorporate into one's life.

The deck/patio has become our outdoor transition room,

totally integrating the garden and the home. Today, we treat the

the deck and patio in the same fashion we furnish and decorate

it. Weather resistant materials let us keep cushions and furniture

outside all year. We buy gourmet grills, market umbrellas,

designer pots, trellises, arbors, and gazebos. We use exterior lighting

for our trees and indirect lantern lights for the deck. The deck is no

longer an add-on, plain stick structure.

The Atlanta Home Show is one of the top 20 shows in the

United States selected by Home & Garden Television for their

National Show Series and is presented locally by WSB AM 750. For

more information, call the 24-hour Infoline at 770-798-1995 or

visit the website at www.atlanta-homeshow.com.

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